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West Java Police send Rizieq’s defamation dossier to prosecutors

Arya Dipa

The Jakarta Post

Bandung, West Java /
Thu, May 11, 2017 / 06:00 pm

Under investigation – Islam Defenders Front (FPI) leader Habib Rizieq (left) arrives at the West Java Police headquarters in Bandung, West Java, to attend a questioning on Jan. 12. Rizieq was questioned as part of an investigation into his alleged insult of Pancasila, which was reported by Sukmawati Soekarnoputri.
(Antara/Fahrul Jayadiputra)

Investigators at the West Java Police have handed over the investigation report for defamation suspect Rizieq Shihab to the West Java Prosecutor’s Office, expecting that the case can be brought to the court soon, a senior police official has said.

“We are waiting for the office to declare the case dossier P21 [complete]. It is hoped that the dossier can be completed as quickly as possible,” West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Anton Charliyan said on Wednesday.

He was speaking after a call for readiness ceremony held by GP Ansor, the youth wing of Indonesia’s largest Islamic organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), in Bandung.

Rizieq’s case dossier was handed over to the prosecutors on Monday. Prosecutors also have held a press conference to explain the case against the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) leader, who is accused of violating two Criminal Code articles: Article 154 on insulting state symbols and Article 310 on libel.

Rizieq was reported to the police in October last year by Sukmawati Soekarnoputri, who handed over footage of his speech at Gasibu Square in Bandung as evidence. Sukmawati said Rizieq’s speech had insulted state symbols and tainted the good name of Indonesia’s first president Sukarno, who is also her father.

“In Sukarno’s version of the Pancasila, [belief in] god is on the buttocks. Meanwhile, in the Jakarta Charter’s Pancasila, [belief in] god is on the head. Which one is better? Soekarno’s Pancasila or the one stipulated on the Jakarta Charter?” Rizieq asserted in that speech.

During his investigation, Rizieq claimed his speech was based on his thesis entitled “The Influence of Pancasila in the Implementation of Sharia in Indonesia”. He made it for his Master’s degree at the Malaya University, Kuala Lumpur, in 2012. (dis/ebf)